The dust has finally settled from a drama-filled trade deadline. With just under 30 games left in the regular season, things are about to get more hectic as teams with realistic shots at the postseason scramble for positioning. So which teams hovering around that thin line are going to get an early start to their vacations?
1. Miami Heat – (23-31) – Seventh in Eastern Conference – The Heat actually came out looking pretty good after Thursday’s trade deadline. They were able to rid themselves of some unproductive players such as Shawne Williams and Justin Hamilton, and also Danny Granger, who failed to live up to his past level of play. They acquired both Goran and Zoran Dragic, instantly upgrading their starting backcourt with the former. Even with a sub .500 record for most of the season, Miami has been able to keep pace in the playoff hunt in the lowly East.
Unfortunately for the Heat, Chris Bosh is now out for the season while he treats a blood clot in his lung. It’s an incredibly tough break for a team that went all-in to acquire Goran Dragic, who isn’t guaranteed to return to the Heat next season.
Udonis Haslem hasn’t done very well while filling in for Bosh this season, although he had a decent game against the Knicks on Friday. The emergence of Hassan Whiteside has been an unexpected plus for the Heat this season, but it won’t be enough to make up for the absence of Bosh at the four position. While Bosh’s 21.1 points per game will be missed, it’s his 7.0 rebounds per game that might will hurt the Heat more, as Miami is ranked last in the entire league in rebounds.
The Heat might occupy the seventh spot for now, but they will be on the outside looking in when mid-April rolls around.
2. Phoenix Suns – (29-27) – Ninth in Western Conference – It’s hard at this point to not feel sorry for the Suns. They engineered an impressive 23-game turnaround during the 2013-14 season to finish at 48-34, but still missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. This season, they’ve clung to the eighth seed for most of the year, surging just enough each time the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder threatened to overtake them.
That overtaking finally happened on Friday, as the now-healthy Thunder bumped the Suns out of the eighth seed. Phoenix is just 1-6 in the month of February, and their remaining schedule is not about to get any easier, with just 14 home games remaining.
Making matters worse, Phoenix was basically forced to trade Goran Dragic, and also rid themselves of Isiah Thomas, whose arrival to Phoenix caused the issue with Dragic in the first place. Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe will maintain the Sun’s high level of talent in the backcourt, but it’s also a risk for a team that was already struggling before the deadline.
The Sun’s problems don’t really have as much to do with themselves as it has to do with the Thunder. OKC has been waiting all season to get healthy, and it’s obvious that they are finally hitting their stride just in time for the stretch run, and also benefitted from one of the trade deadline’s best deals. The truth is, Phoenix’s playoff position has been fool’s gold all season — they’ve merely been keeping the seat warm for the Thunder up until now.
3. Brooklyn Nets – (22-21) – Eighth in Eastern Conference – The Nets have somehow managed to stay in the playoff hunt all season despite various issues. Deron Williams has failed to produce at the level expected of him, and Kevin Garnett was finally showing signs of his age. Brook Lopez’s injuries didn’t help much either.
The trade deadline was somewhat quiet for Brooklyn, after weeks of speculation of a deal that would shed them of Lopez. They instead opted to send Garnett back to Minnesota in exchange for Thaddeus Young, which does improve the team somewhat, but it might not be enough to stay afloat.
The Nets suffer from the same problem as Phoenix: there are better teams gaining momentum under them. There is only a one-and-a-half game separation between the 9-12 seeds, and any number of those four teams is capable of going on a run, especially the new-look Detroit Pistons, who went from a tanking lottery-seeking team to an accidental-turned-intentional playoff contender. With a cluster of teams capable and looking to ascend to the eighth position, it’s only a matter of time before the identity-challenged Nets move one lane over, allowing several teams to pass.
